Domino, also known as dominoes or bones, is a game in which the players place rectangular blocks, called tiles, on their ends in long lines and then knock them over by putting one on top of another. This sets off the domino effect, which causes all of the other pieces to fall over. Many different types of domino games can be played, and the game is a great way to teach children math skills. It is also a fun activity that can be used to teach vocabulary.
The most common type of domino is double-six, which has six pips on each end and can be divided into two parts visually by a line that runs across the face. Other games feature other numbers of pips on each end. Some have a central circle on the face, while others don’t. The pieces can be stacked vertically or horizontally to create a wide variety of patterns.
In the United States, domino is a popular game for adults and children. Some people play with a partner or in groups, while others enjoy playing with multiple opponents in tournaments. There are a number of tournaments that are held each year in locations around the country, and a player can earn money by winning these events. The rules of each event are a bit different from one another, but the overall goal is to be the first person to set all of the dominoes on their ends in a certain pattern or in a specific area.
Some of the more popular games with dominoes include tinker, berken and muggins, in which points are scored by counting the pips on the losing pieces. Other games involve blocking other players from making a play, and still others use duplicate cards.
As the popularity of domino has increased, so have the games that use it. Some of these are based on the traditional game, while others take inspiration from other games, such as bridge and poker. Some of these newer games include domino racquetball, a variant of tinker, in which players compete to set up domino lines that can be tipped over by an opponent’s piece.
A more common use of the word domino is to describe a situation in which one event has a large effect on another. For example, the decision by a local government to shut down a factory may have a domino effect on other businesses in the same industry.
The idea of the domino effect is also useful in fiction writing. If a writer uses the domino image to think about plotting a story, they can weed out scenes that don’t connect to the scene that comes before them or that are at the wrong angle. Whether the writer is a pantster who writes the entire manuscript off the cuff or uses a tool like Scrivener to help with outlining, this can improve their writing by eliminating scenes that don’t add any logical value to the story.